Wallabies coach Rod Macqueen is on the brink of achieving an unprecedented Grand Slam as he prepares to make his bow from the international stage.

If Australia's rugby guru masterminds a series win over the Lions in Sydney on Saturday before handing over to Eddie Jones, he will stand alone as the most successful rugby union coach in history.

The 51-year-old's battle honours could not be more impressive. Macqueen guided the Wallabies to victory in the 1999 World Cup and followed that up last year with a first Tri-Nations Trophy. To the dismay of the All Blacks, the Bledisloe Cup has also been in Australian hands for the last three years.

Of the 46 matches played under Macqueen's reign as head coach since September 1997, the Wallabies have won 37, lost eight and drawn one.

Skipper John Eales is in no doubt about Macqueen's influence over an unprecedented era of success in Australian rugby.

``Rod's been a huge figure in Australian rugby over the last four years and, both on a personal basis and also from the team's perspective, he's contributed so much to the game,'' said Eales.

``Where we are today, a lot of it is because of Rod. The team's very thankful for that and, certainly, we'd like to send him out a winner.''

The self-effacing Macqueen is anxious however that the final Test is not overshadowed by his departure.

``I'd might add if I could, it's not about me this Saturday. It's about the team, it's about Australia and it's about pride. So we won't be talking about winning the game for me, I can assure you,'' he said.

Macqueen was not due to hand over to Jones until after the Tri-Nations series, so it was a surprise that he announced immediately after the spectacular win in Melbourne that he was stepping down early.

``There has been a lot of speculation, and rather than be answering a lot of questions as to whether I might or might not retire, I thought it was better to set the record straight and get it over and done with to concentrate on the game.''

Jones has already claimed a Lions scalp by coaching the Australia A side to victory over the tourists' midweek line-up, while his Super 12 champions ACT Brumbies almost repeated the feat, but were undone by Austin Healey's injury time try and Matt Dawson conversion, losing 30-28.